Alt-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos is claiming to be ‘ex-gay’
The professional troll is now touting conversion therapy to Christians in a last gasp for relevancy
Alt-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos is claiming to be “ex-gay” and “sodomy-free” in a new bid for attention.
The controversial gay figure rose to prominence after throwing his support behind Donald Trump’s 2016 candidacy, but has struggled for relevancy since resigning from Breitbart News in 2017 after making comments that seemed to show support for pedophilia.
Yiannopoulos was shown the cold shoulder by Trump supporters, had a book deal pulled, and lost the financial support of a prominent billionaire investor.
Now, the British writer and speaker has told right-wing website LifeSite that he is “ex-gay” and “sodomy-free,” and his American husband has been “demoted to housemate.”
He also touted conversion therapy, a harmful practice that falsely claims to be able to change a person’s sexuality or gender identity, saying it “does work” and claiming he treats his sexuality “like an addiction. You never stop being an alcoholic.”
Yiannopoulos said he was “never wholly at home in the gay lifestyle” and only “leaned heavily into it because it drove liberals crazy to see a handsome, charismatic, intelligent gay man riotously celebrating conservative principles.”
He also took a moment to demean transgender people, saying we’re living in a time of “gender madness,” and to insinuate he’d like to hang drag queens who read books to children.
“I have enjoyed a lifelong affection for the absurd and the outrageous, so part of me gleefully anticipates the day I can seize the moral high ground, however briefly, to denounce others for failures of piety and sobriety,” he added. “I hope people will support and pray for me, if for no other reason than they share my delight at the prospect of Milo Yiannopoulos furiously and indignantly railing against homosexuals for sins of the flesh.”
Despite previously ranting that he had “lost everything” and his “life and career were completely destroyed,” Yiannopoulos claimed to be financially supporting his husband — sorry, “housemate” — with a luxurious lifestyle.
“Well, the guy I live with has been demoted to housemate, which hasn’t been easy for either of us,” he said. “It helps that I can still just about afford to keep him in Givenchy and a new Porsche every year. Could be worse for him, I guess.”
It’s hard to tell if the interview is an attempt at parody or satire, or if LifeSite truly believes Yiannopoulos’ commitment to his new, Christian lifestyle — particularly when he quotes random elements of Catholicism and then follows with statements like this:
“As I’ve begun to resist sinful sexual urges, I’ve found myself drinking less, smoking less…you name it. I confess my weakness for designer shoes and handbags is yet to dissipate. But I am coming to realize, however slowly, that lust — per Augustine — is disordered desire for all sorts of things, not just NFL players.”
While Yiannopoulos appears to be seeking relevancy by trying to sell conversion therapy to anti-LGBTQ Christians, his attempts stand at odds with the number of “ex-gay” figures who have since come out as gay and denounced the practice.
Truth Wins Out, an organization that works to combat the “ex-gay” movement, slammed the Yiannopoulos’ interview in a statement, calling him “a publicity-seeking circus act trying to revive his imploded career.”
“We will do our best to ignore this tragic stage horse and deprive him of the celebrity oxygen he needs to feed his ego and line his pockets,” TWO said. “Still, if even a handful of LGBTQ youth are harmed by his money-grubbing charade and pitiable grope for relevance, Yiannopoulos will be held responsible for the lives he ruins.”
The organization noted it had spent “fifteen years proving that ‘ex-gay’ programs don’t work. In the unique case of Milo Yiannopoulos we wish they did. The straight majority can have him, as he’s done squat for the [LGBTQ] community.”
They continued: “TWO has also shown that ‘ex-gay’ charlatans are mostly cranks, creeps and cons. We won’t have much work to do on this front, as Yiannopoulos’ sad little grift is self-evident. We can only hope that Yiannopoulos’ swindle quickly fades, so he can slither away as quickly as he reemerged.”
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Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include Truth Wins Out’s statement and to correct an error in Yiannopoulos’ last name.
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